It has long been known that winds, tides and other fluid currents produce deleterious effects upon beaches, shorelines, channels and the like. The erosion of beaches, silting of navigational channels and the destruction of natural barriers such as sand dunes pose significant problems in that any corrective action taken is generally quite costly and provides only a temporary solution.
Many of the prior art attempts directed to these problems have taken the form of groins, jetties, weirs, breakwaters or the like. Such devices have generally only been effective as short-term expedients, and in some cases have suffered from the further disadvantages of being unwieldy, of substantial size, and often aesthetically unattractive.
A significant advance toward the objectives of preserving shorelines, dunes and/or navigational channels under either prevailing or variable ambient conditions is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,333, granted Oct. 21, 1975, and which is incorporated herein by reference. As is set forth in the noted patent, there is provided a plurality of flow control modules, each of which preferably takes the form of a unitary structure divided by spaced internal ribs and closed at its extreme ends by walls. Each module is shaped to present a concave inner front surface and a convex rear surface.
While the modules disclosed in my earlier patent are effective to deposit entrained alluvium from incoming ocean waves as is indicated in FIGS. 8 and 9 of the patent drawings, and are also effective to deposit and form further alluvium mounds from backwash as is also shown in the same views, it is natural to assume that some improvements can be made in the general structure of the patented modules by a person skilled in the art. First, for certain applications it is highly desirable that the module take the form of individual segments or sections which can be separately transported to the site and there assembled without total reliance upon heavy equipment. Second, many applications exist wherein there is not required multidirectional mounting of the module utilizing anchor pins and a mounting platform as shown in the patent drawings.
Accordingly, there presently exists in the art of fluid current control a definite requirement for a module structure made up of individual segments separately cast or otherwise formed and which can be readily assembled at the site into a unitary body. Desirably, in the casting operation there can also be provided an integral and more sturdy anchoring foot on certain of the individual module segments.
It has also been found that the backside of the module need not be truly convex as shown in my earlier patent, and that the front face of the module can somewhat depart from the specific concavity shown therein. Additionally, by following the teachings of the instant invention the wave energies may be differently dissipated or suppressed and the mounds of alluvium configured somewhat differently from those shown in my earlier patent.